We have a deed restriction on our land that our home must be minimum 1000 sq ft. We have built the cabin and it is 16x14 or about 224 sq ft. What would be a reasonable way to keep to the smallest possible and still count correctly. If we connected the cabin to the house with a breezeway, could the cabin count in the 1000? If we did a 1/2 wall on the house upstairs, what would the sq footage be calc'd at? at what ceiling height is it a full sq ft... ?opinions?
I believe the same calculation for real estate is used (see http://realtytimes.com/rtcpages/20050607_calcuatefootage.htm) - do you have a governing body which oversees enforcement of the covenants? They would probably be the best to ask (keep it very generic and short).
I would ask the people or person in the area that would be doing the measuring for you. Everyplace seems to have different perspectives or laws that they abide by.
I would hate for someone to give you some information and then have your "governing body" say no!
Our deed restrictions are for 5 tracts of land. Our governing body is actually, just the 5 of us.
Well then- Take the other 4 out to dinner and then get them to agree with what you want..
"Bone Daddy's" in Austin comes to mind.
;)
Most building departments count as floor area any heated area of the structure above 5' of headroom. This is measured to the outside of framing.
Thank John. I was thinking it may be 6' but I like 5' better. What would your thoughts be on the cabin being connected to the house via a porch. Would you think that it could be included in the total?
Certainly the enclosed area of the two buildings could be included. You could have another category of "covered porches" and add that area to the final total. If someone wants to disallow that you have not tried to hide it (and you could make a case that it is living area too).
These things are pretty arbitrary anyway so do your best and make your case... it will likely be accepted.